


What If...

by jasperboy



Category: The Martian (2015), The Martian - All Media Types, The Martian - Andy Weir
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2019-06-12
Updated: 2019-08-22
Packaged: 2020-05-02 05:34:16
Rating: Not Rated
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 4
Words: 10,588
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/19192795
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jasperboy/pseuds/jasperboy
Summary: Almost thirty years has passed





	1. The Beginning and End of A Long and Difficult Day

\--- PROLOGUE ---

 

The Ares Mission Challenge Coin, 24k Gold with an intricately carved Ares Mission Logo, dates back to the 20‘s when Flight Director Mitch Henderson presented it to Lt. Col. Jack Stinson who had just been named Commander of the Ares I mission. 

Upon completion of his mission Commander Stinson passed the gold coin to Maddox Paulin, Commander of the Ares II mission. Paulin, in turn, presented each of the Ares I crewman a copy of the original coin but in silver, with the mission logo decorated in red and blue and with edge lettering identifying it as an Ares I coin. To Stinson he presented a ‘Commander’s’ version of the coin in black onyx. 

At the conclusion of the Ares II mission Paulin passed the gold coin to Melissa Lewis, Commander of the Ares III mission and she followed the tradition of presenting silver coins to the Ares II crew and a black onyx coin to Paulin. 

Unknown to all but the three Commanders themselves, as the original Ares Challenge Coin was passed among them they each marked the soft surface of the gold coin with their own initials inside a small geometric shape of their choosing, leaving their own personal mark on the coin.

When the Ares program ended the plan was for the gold Challenge Coin to be put on display in the Air and Space museum.

 

 

 

\--- The Beginning of a Long and Difficult Day ---

 

July 11, 2064 

Having invested so much emotionally in this day it wasn’t surprising that she had trouble sleeping through the night. It was hard for her to believe this day was really here and how much effort it took from so many people to make it possible. She hoped she wouldn’t let everyone down.

 

He slept fitfully as well. On his 15th birthday his father began giving him flying lessons, hoping that someday he would be in this exact position and now he’s sure his father’s spirit is watching. 

Since neither could sleep, both were out of their respective bunks a full hour earlier than they had planned.

The mission so far hadn’t been too difficult, on the ship she fell back into 0.4g living easily and the work here at Camp Delta was just challenging enough to keep her mind occupied. But today felt different, more dreamlike than real, and her emotions have been all over the place. She decided to try her relaxation exercises, closing her eyes and breathing deeply, she concentrated on a spot in the middle of her forehead and tried to relax. 

He prepared the same way today as he had for every mission, combat or Lunar. He stuck to his training, which was to focus on exactly what he wanted to accomplish and what he expected to happen, to see it in his mind and go through it step by step until he was ready. And while there are those who’d say today’s short flight should be relatively risk free, his father had drilled into him that you must show the same respect for every mission, no matter how seemingly routine or mundane, because if you don’t, something will jump up and bite you in the ass every time. His biggest fear today, however, was the potential he might fail the others depending on him, or even worse, his late father’s hopes and expectations. 

Both donned their surface suits early and then had to sit and bide their time until sunrise. Six battery powered portable lighting units and twelve tripods with extendible center columns had been loaded onto a motored UC (utility cart) and stowed in the Flyer’s cargo hold last evening. 

Nearing departure time she had a thought, hurried back to her quarters and returned carrying a data storage device. She asked the Chief if they could take a portable power node from the supply cabinet, the Chief nodded, then both items were put in the utility bag along with the meal packs they were taking. 

 

Most of the crew gathered to see them off and wish them luck, then the Chief walked up to them - she looked one, then the other, in the eye, and told them that everyone understood how difficult things would be for them today and how much it meant to them both, but that the entire Camp Delta crew was behind them. They put on their helmets and gloves and the crew watched as they both headed through the portal into the hanger to board the Flyer. 

He went through the flight checklist and 15 minutes later they departed for what would prove to be a very long and difficult day.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

\--- The End of a Long and Difficult Day ---

 

They had been gone just over 9 hours and it would be dark in 55 minutes. 

At Boudica Corp’s ‘Camp Delta,’ dinner was over, the Mess was shut down and the crew was nearly an hour into personal time when they heard the sound of the Flyer’s hangar doors as they cycled open and then closed. A few minutes later they both entered through the Hanger portal and all activity in the common area stopped. Except for the hum of the life support equipment and hissing of the air circulation system, there wasn’t a sound. 

She walked in with her helmet in her left hand and her head down, her 5’ 2“ frame looking even smaller than usual. He looked serious as he purposely trudged across the common area with the utility bag slung across his shoulder, but then he stopped and the crew gathered around. 

“OK, it wasn’t what we...um...expected,” he told them, “we accomplished what we set out to do, but there were other things, unexpected things, that weren’t good at all.” He exhaled a deep breath, “Look, you’ve all been very supportive but it’s been a hard day and we still have to put together a message to send home. If you guys can be patient a little longer, I promise we’ll fill you in first thing tomorrow.” Then he slowly turned and followed her to the crew quarters. They each went into their personal bunk space, changed out of their surface suits then came together again in the office set aside for their use. 

She set about downloading HelmetCam images to be included into the message home. Meanwhile he took the Personals box out of the Utility Bag. He pulled out individual items so they could be seen during the report home.

With their ‘recorded’ portion of the report ready to play, they sat, side by side, at the desk for a few minutes without speaking, then individually steeled their nerves and prepared to engage a personal communication link with Earth. Crew Chief Maggie Austin knocked, then stuck her head in and asked, “Is everything okay?” 

“Come on in Chief” she said, “you should hear this.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

There was a nearly 9 minute delay for the message to reach Earth and it arrived at almost 3:30 a.m., but Alex Vogel was awake and anxiously waiting to receive it. He was in his office at ETH Zurich (Swiss Federal Institute of Technology) with his wife Helena to his left, and on his right, was Marissa Martinez, widow of the Ares III Pilot Rick Martinez and mother of David. Behind her was retired Lt. Col., C.Y. Bassett, Ares II Pilot, close friend of Rick Martinez and mentor to David.

On the feed, Alex could see Beth Johanssen-Conroy was having trouble starting, but she shook her arms out, rolled her shoulders, took a deep breath and calmed herself. She looked over to her right at David Martinez for a moment, then turned to the camera above the monitor and finally began, “The good news is, you can tell Robert Lewis and David’s mother we were successful. But the bad news ...well, it’s far worse than we ever could’ve imagined!”


	2. What Led Up to the Long and Difficult Day

It was only a glancing blow and her doctor said it was just a mild concussion, but it’s two years on now, and when Alex Vogel talks to Melissa Lewis, he can tell that her mind isn’t as sharp or quick as it had been, she’s become forgetful and is sometimes confused. It’s obvious to him her cognitive skills have deteriorated. Her husband Robert told Alex that a whole team of doctors concur, she is progressing through the early stages of dementia. 

Alex now contacts her husband and if Robert thinks she is up to taking a call, he’ll be put through to Melissa. 

Bob recently confided to Alex that Melissa is very frustrated with her deteriorating condition and that frustration has been exacerbated by one thing in particular, the missing Ares Challenge Coin. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

During the Ares III mission Melissa had worn the Challenge Coin like a pendant, with the coin held by a bezel attached to a gold necklace. The Sol 6 emergency evacuation required a quick change from Ares surface suit to Hermes space suit and unknown to Melissa, the chain snagged, the bezel failed, and the coin fell to the Habitat floor. It wasn’t until she was back on the Hermes that she realized it was missing, of course at that time it didn’t really matter, her thoughts were only about Mark, her inability to save him, and wanting to getting the rest of the crew home safely.

Now, more than 25 years later, in her confused state she doesn’t always remember the coin was lost on the mission. Before going to bed she methodically combs the entire house for the coin, looking in each drawer and cubbyhole of her desk, searching her jewelry box, examining every dresser drawer, going through the pockets of clothing hanging in the closet, looking under furniture, anywhere she thinks the coin might be found. She is relentless and becomes more frustrated the longer she searches.

Bob once tried substituting a copy of the coin but it didn’t have the secret markings made by the Ares Commanders and Melissa immediately knew it wasn’t ‘THE’ missing coin. Her doctor eventually had to prescribe medication to calm her down enough at bedtime to allow her to sleep. Initially this behavior only occurred occasionally, then every three or four months, and now it is every six or seven weeks with the time between episodes decreasing.

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

\--- 27 Months Before the Long and Difficult Day ---

 

Not long after learning of Melissa’s worsening condition and frustrations, Alex and his wife were in California visiting their son Victor, a professor at Cal Tech, his wife and their three children. 

Since she was only a couple of hours away, Alex contacted Beth Johanssen-Conroy and asked if they could meet for lunch and catch up. Glad to have a chance to see Alex again Beth drove down to Pasadena where they found a window table in a quiet cafe.

Having not seen one another since Chris Beck’s funeral almost five years earlier, they spent a long time catching up. During their conversation Beth admitted that as she gets older, the more she regrets having not downloaded everything from her personal device on Mars during the rush to evacuate. It held her daily thoughts from the mission and, more importantly to her, the last photos ever taken of the crew together with Mark. “With Rick and now Chris both gone,” Beth said, “it hurts my heart to not have those six days of memories, all because we had to rush to evacuate.” Alex nodded in agreement.

That brought the conversation around to Commander Lewis. 

With a sadness to her voice Beth recounted that twice in the last six months she had to cut short her visits because Melissa had became too agitated. Beth had apologized to Bob for upsetting Melissa and now calls him for updates on her condition. Occasionally he’ll let Melissa talk to Beth, if he thinks she can handle it. 

“Even then,” Beth says, “she seems to be less and less herself, repeating conversations we’ve already had or thinking that we are in training for Ares III. She keeps reminding me there can be no ‘personal’ interactions between crew members on the mission, an obvious reference to Chris and me.” 

 

Alex interrupted, “Beth, you have to know it has nothing to do with you.”

Beth sighs, “I know.”

Having been given permission by Bob Lewis to share everything with Beth, Alex explained how the missing challenge coin has become a problem for Melissa and how her husband has tried to deal with it. Alex shared what had happened just two weeks ago. At the onset of her most recent ‘episode’, Bob told Melissa the challenge coin had been left on Mars. Melissa had adamantly replied, “No Bob! I would NEVER leave anything that important... NEVER leave anything that valuable... NEVER leave anyone I was responsible for, on Mars.” 

 

They sat quietly for a minute, then Beth said, “You don’t have to be a mental health professional to figure out what that change in pronoun from ‘anything’ to ‘anyone’ was really about!” 

Alex nodded, “Melissa’s doctor thinks if she had the coin it might curb the worst of this behavior, especially since the missing coin is the trigger for it.”

Beth shook her head and then spoke through gritted teeth out, “That coin is just one more friggin’ thing we left on Mars!” She turned and stared out the window, then turning back, “Rick’s crucifix, my hard drive, and now the Commander’s Challenge Coin.” 

Reflecting on the situation, “I suppose the crucifix and the coin would be none the worse for wear after sitting all this time on Mars, but my hard drive? I have a friend who would love to get a crack at it and swears he has the skills to retrieve some of the data, but I’m afraid it would just be a block of brittle Martian scrap metal and the data unsalvageable.” 

 

Beth took another sip of coffee, the cafe wasn’t crowded so neither felt a need to rush. Her scone was served and she broke it in two, raised her eyebrows at Alex while offering him half. He shook his head, she took a bite then mumbled with a mouthful of scone, “Dathhid Mathtins hiss tundn...” She stopped , finished chewing, swallowed and apologized, “Sorry, I shouldn’t talk with my mouthful!” 

After a sip of coffee, “David Martinez has turned down two separate lunar missions and a five year mission to the Bellerophon Space Station, (ESA/Nippon Aerospace’s platform for a future mission to Jupiter’s moon Callisto) all in the hopes of trying to get a pilot seat on a Martian mission. He's intent on retrieving his father’s crucifix! Of course NASA has threatened anyone who takes David on a Martian mission that they will be held accountable if he goes anywhere near the Ares III site.” 

“Ja, I know,” Alex took a sip of coffee then continued, “You know who has a Martian mission scheduled in ’64, don’t you? And they are supposed to be landing within a reasonable distance of the site.”

Finishing a sip of coffee, Beth looked over the rim of her cup, “Let me guess,” she answered, “Boudica?”

“Ja!”

Beth slowly nodded, “You think I should talk to my former brother-in-law about David?”

With a small shrug, Alex responded, “Ja!” But he paused, then reconsidered, “Well, no, not really ...not unless you are comfortable with it.” 

Swirling the remnants of the coffee in her cup, “Rick saved our lives, Alex.” 

He Nodded, then said “He was a gifted pilot... but using of the OMS to keep the MAV upright, well that was just... just brilliant!”

 

The waitress came to the table and offered coffee refills, Beth nodded but Alex put his hand over his cup. 

When the server left Beth spoke, “As much as I loved Brandon, I really didn’t like Jeffrey. It was hard for me to believe they were actually brothers!” Then, sounding resolute, “But, I’ll contact Boudica and talk to Jeff!” 

 

Then Alex brought up something else, “I was thinking, David probably shouldn’t go alone. There will be so much to do just to get into the deflated Hab and it would be a huge benefit if someone went along who knows the layout of the equipment and where personal items might be. C. Y. Bassett has said he would go, but Ares II was more than 30 years ago and he just turned 70. He probably wouldn’t pass the physical and besides, what would Boudica do with two pilots? 

After looking at Alex for a minute Beth exclaimed, “Well, you’re in no condition to go, not with your arthritis!” Alex nodded in agreement. Then she said quietly, “So I guess that leaves me.”

“Beth, I really didn’t meet you here to talk you into anything.”

“No...no, everything you said is true. And Melissa was a wonderful Commander, I’d do anything for her, it’s just the memories....” Beth shook her head slowly, “And let’s face it, our last mission really sucked!” Beth closed her eyes for a few seconds, took a deep breath, “Okay. I’m in. But what about NASA?”

“You get David and yourself on the Boudica mission and I’ll work on NASA!” 

That afternoon Beth called David Martinez to fill him in on the plan. David was ecstatic and called his mom and then his ‘Uncle’ Cy, not really an uncle but his deceased father’s close friend, and David’s mentor, Ares II pilot, Chuck Y. Bassett. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Jeffrey Conroy was Vice-President of Project Development at Boudica Corp. But before making contact, Beth wanted to first visit her Ex, Brandon. 

She and Brandon had always been able share things with one another and it was easy for her to explain what she wanted to accomplish and asked if he was okay with her speaking to Jeffrey. Brandon, was still in love with her and didn’t hesitate to tell her to go ahead. “If Jeff is difficult or reluctant in any way, you just let me know let me know and I’ll speak to him.” 

“You’ve always been supportive,” Beth said quietly, “and I love you for it.”

“You know Hon, just because you were ‘paired-up for the evac,’ what happened to Mark wasn’t your fault, you don’t have to do this out of some sense of duty.”

“Bran, I know that, I know...but this isn’t about Mark, it’s because the Commander always looked out for us and Rick Martinez saved all our lives. How can I NOT do this for them?” 

~~~~~~~~~~

When Boudica’s Board of Director’s learned of the request they couldn’t say yes fast enough! 

An in demand pilot for any space mission, in the summer of 2064 David Martinez will only be 31 and already has lunar mission experience. Beth Johanssen-Conroy is everyone’s dream Tech Officer for a Martian mission, and at age 58 she will still not be the oldest crewman ever on such a mission. To the corporation, giving up the use of the Mars Surface Flyer for a day to Beth and David was worth while since they will gain two seasoned space veterans whom the entire crew, especially Chief Austin, respects and admires.

With the ride to Mars arranged Alex took on the challenge of getting NASA to allow the visit to the Ares III site. Without NASA’s permission it couldn’t happen and why go to Mars at all if they were unable to visit the ARES Site. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

To NASA, it’s consecrated ground. The Ares III Site is off-limits, a monument to Mark Watney in particular and early Mars exploration in general. 

Done with the manned space missions since Ares IV, NASA has refused the ESA, CNSA , CCSA (Commonwealth Countries Space Agency) and NAM (Nippon Aerospace Ministry) in their requests to visit the Ares III site.

In addition, four separate private corporations have been threatened with lawsuits and various types of retribution, including cutting off access to all of NASA’s vast information databases about Mars and all other space research if they attempted to go near the site. The Ares III site has remained undisturbed for 28+ years. 

 

When Alex Vogel requested permission for Beth and David to visit the Ares III site, NASA issued a proforma refusal. Unable to even get a hearing from NASA executives for the request, he decided to try another angle and contacted on old colleague. 

 

Former PR Director Annie Montrose had left NASA more than 20 years earlier and retired from her most recent job in ‘58. Trusting her with their secrets, Alex explained what they were trying to do and asked if she could give them some PR advice in taking on NASA. 

Annie was glad, maybe even anxious, to help. She used her contacts and worked her PR magic over the next 4 months which resulted in ever mounting public pressure on NASA and ultimately congress. Experts at reading public opinion polls, congress began to threaten funding until NASA finally agreed to this ‘Good Will’ mission but with strict conditions.

 

David Martinez could retrieve his father’s crucifix and Beth Johanssen-Conroy would be permitted to remove the hard drive from her portable, but nothing else could be removed from the site. (Alex had kept the search for the Challenge Coin a secret.) And no one was permitted to search for Mark Watney’s remains!

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There are several different spellings of Boudica and multiple ways to pronounce the name. With this spelling there are two ways to say the name, either BOO Dee ka or Boo DEE ka


	3. What Happened During The Long and Difficult Day

July 2064 

 

The ARES III Site

 

Beth had little to do as “co-pilot” of the Surface Flyer and was contemplative for the entire 70 minute flight from Camp Delta. Sol 6 (November 13, 2035) had been nearly 29 years ago yet memories and emotions remain strong. 

 

Following his father’s long ago advice, David brought the Flyer down 50 meters from the suspected site of the Habitat. His father’s concern had been that a Hab breach sometime after their evacuation could have spread debris in a landing site any closer than that.

 

****** Mission Elapsed Time 1 Hr / 10 Min

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Covered in soil and sand, the collapsed Hab wasn’t easily identifiable from above but on the surface, looking toward where she was pretty certain the Hab had stood, Beth thought the irregularities of the shapes and formations under the drifted surface soil were the likely target. To her, It looked like someone had thrown a sheet over stacks of boxes and equipment, then covered it in red sand.

Beth thought she could discern at least two of the three Rigid Air Locks under drifted soil and, while they weren’t practical for entry (the hatches would be too difficult to pry or cut open,) they were an indication of where to look for the edge of the Hab canvas.

Using handheld probes to poke through the Martian soil, they found the front edge of the Habitat, cut a hole in the canvas, and David crawled inside dragging with him the first of the adjustable tripods. They then followed a meticulously laid out plan that had them installing the tripods in a pre-designated pattern. It was hard and demanding work that required walking hunched over until the tripods could gradually be raised. Beth’s job was to crank each tripod manually and even though she alternated which arm she used, she was certain the she’d never be able to lift her arms enough to take off her suit at the end of the day.

The plan they followed allowed them to incrementally raise the roof of the Hab to an ultimate height of two meters with most of the Martian soil running off the back and sides, away from their entrance. Additionally, portable lighting units were placed in a pattern to best illuminate the Hab interior.

With the tripods erected and the lighting organized, the plan was to return to the Flyer for breakfast and rest, however... once they were able to walk about the interior of the Hab they were anxious to begin their search.

 

****** Mission Elapsed Time 3 Hr / 40 Min 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

While it wasn’t exactly where she remembered it being, Beth was able to find her personal computer without too much difficulty, the Orange Caltech Logo was easy to spot. Despite her goal of retrieving the hard drive she still hoped it was going to be worth the trouble, especially after it sat in an ultra-deep freeze for such a long time. She removed the drive and now she’ll keep her fingers crossed that her friend back home can salvage the data.

Her next undertaking was a VERY long shot and had little chance of success. It’d come to her just that morning that with a power source connected to the Hab computer, she could try to download the 6 days of Ares III logs. Even though it’s almost certain NOT to work, 30 years of the brutal Martian cold would have caused severe damage to the drive and computer in general, she was here on Mars, so why not try? 

Obviously, she’d not asked NASA for permission to do this, they’d have certainly said no, but the way she figured it, should this somehow actually work, she wouldn’t technically be ‘removing’ anything from the site, just making a copy of a file. And NASA hadn’t prohibited that!

Using the power node brought from Camp Delta this morning, she attempted start the computer. Amazingly, the Hab computer booted right up! Using the data storage device she brought with her, she tried downloading the logs for their Sol 6 mission and she yelled BOOYA! (She couldn’t believe she used one of Mark’s favorite words) That's because the download worked the very first try! The computer must have been damaged by the cold though, because it took a little more than 20 minutes when the download should have taken less than a minute. But who’s counting? This also gave Beth hope her own hard drive might be salvageable after all!

 

Meanwhile, David searched around his father’s bunk, or at least where it was supposed to be, the bunk itself seemed to be missing, but the box of his father’s personal items was still there. Unfortunately, the blue velvet drawstring bag containing the crucifix wasn’t in the box. David looked around near the bunk space but had no luck. 

He wanted to continue to look for the Crucifix while Beth searched for the challenge coin but, unless they were very lucky, it would take quite a bit of time. It’d been almost three hours since landing, so they decided to return to the flyer, have a couple meal packs, and maybe even use the Flyer’s computer to watch the Hab logs Beth had downloaded, before returning to continue their searches.

 

****** Mission Elapsed Time 4 Hr / 05 Min 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Back in the Flyer they removed their helmets and gloves. When in flight they were required to be fully suited up in case of an emergency but parked like this, in the fully pressurized and heated cabin, it was wasn’t necessary and it was more comfortable without the extra gear.

Cueing up the Ares III Hab logs to Sol 6, evacuation day, Beth found it wasn’t easy to watch Mark knowing what was about to happen. At the end of the Sol 6 entry she saw herself on the monitor as she reached up and closed the computer to end the log and the screen went black. But then it immediately came to life again with a time stamp almost 7 hours later. 

“I’m pretty much fucked!” said a voice from the grave. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Beth and David saw a shirtless and bandaged Mark Watney speaking to them. 

To say Beth was stunned was an understatement! 

She felt lightheaded and thought she could hear the sound of blood rushing through her ears. Except for the prickly feeling in her scalp and on her arms, her other senses seemed numbed. As Mark continued speaking it was just ‘white noise,’ Beth couldn’t really process what he was saying. 

 

David’s training as a combat pilot wouldn’t allow his mind to lose focus on the task at hand but it was still an enormous event to take in. He let the recording play until Mark explained how he survived being impaled, then he hit pause. 

Beth continued staring, open mouthed, at the paused figure of Mark Watney on the screen. Tears slowly made their way down her cheeks and after another 30 or 40 seconds she began gasping for breath. When she could finally breath again she began yelling,, “No! ... No! ... Nooo!” while pounding her fists on her thighs. Finally, she quietly began sobbing. 

 

David appeared to remain stoic, but inside, a hundred stories his father had told him about Mark seemed to come alive. Then he remembered his fathers deep sadness when talking about losing Mark, a sadness he now felt himself. Then there was Beth, he couldn’t help her and she was in such pain. Finally he took Beth’s hand and they sat that way for several minutes.

 

Eventually she began to regain her composure and quietly, David said, “I’m so sorry Aunt Beth.” 

She wiped her eyes then turned to him, “You haven’t called me Aunt in a long time.” 

“I know, I... I guess this just took me back to when I was a kid. All of you were all so sad.”

They gathered themselves, then continued the log and watched until Mark signed off on Sol 6 and Beth paused the replay. For the first time she checked the size of the downloaded file and estimated there had to be dozens and dozens of hours to watch, it was almost impossible to estimate how many but, regardless, they couldn’t review them now. 

 

*** Mission Elapsed Time 4 Hr / 50 Min ***

 

Beth suggested they jump to the end of the file to see the last entry. She knew it would be difficult to watch, but she wanted to know, she HAD to know, how it all...ended

They both took a minute to try to prepare for what they may see, Beth searched for the highest “Sol number” and it came up labeled as - Sol 499 

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

A bearded and much thinner Mark Watney addressed the camera. 

“Okay. I’m making my SECOND, final entry. I know, I know, I said the entry on Sol 495 was my final log entry, but.... best laid plans, and all of that.

“Nothing has changed, no rescue is imminent and I haven’t had a change of heart, tomorrow, Sol 500 , will still be the official end of the Ares III mission. It’s just that I realized there were some things I should get organized in case someone ever does actually return to the Ares III Hab. 

 

“I’ve spent lot of time making these log entries and it struck me that I’m not sure when, or even IF, someone will ever see them. But it seems reasonable that the computer will have to be operational for that to ever happen. Johanssen would probably know the answer, but I’m unsure if the computer and it’s hard drive can stand up to the Martian cold for very long, so.... I have retrieved, yet again, the RTG! 

“We have quite a relationship now, it’s keeps giving and giving and I offer nothing in return, save for the fact I don’t make it sit under the Martian soil for eternity! In any case, it’s now located in the cabinet under the computer. I’ve been working with insulation from Rover 1, and I think I’ve come up with the right balance to protect the computer from being over heated by the RTG while still providing enough warmth to stave off the cold.

(Beth now understood why the Hab computer operated so well !)

 

He continued, “Also, as I have mentioned a few times in these logs, it continues to bother me that the crew had to leave without some of their personal items, items they cherished so much they brought them all the way to Mars.”

Mark held up individual items to the camera as he continued. 

 

“The first item is Vogel’s framed family Christmas photo with his two children in their grandmother’s lap. 

 

“Here’s Beck’s letter from his sister saying why she was so proud of her big brother - sorry for reading it Chris. 

 

“Next is Beth’s small stuffed unicorn which Chris and I won for her at the Texas State Fair - we spent almost $90 winning the $3 toy by throwing darts at balloons. 

 

“Then there’s Martinez’s crucifix. Rick, I know this was passed down from your grandfather, but as I explained earlier, the wood from cross was key to extending my survival, giving me several months extra to live. I’d hoped that if NASA mounted some kind of rescue those extra months would have made a difference. Well, no matter, here is the metallic Christ figure from the crucifix, I’m putting it back into the blue pouch.”

 

Wide eyed, David glanced over at Beth, she raised her eyebrows, then they continued watching as Watney continued,

 

“Finally, here is the Commander’s Challenge Coin. I found it under her bunk and assume it must’ve rolled under there by accident ‘cause I know how important it is to her. At first I thought there were some scratches on the face of the coin but then looking closer I realized they were the initials of the 3 commanders of the Ares program. I hope they don’t mind, but I am, by far, the longest standing ‘Commander of Mars’, and am giving myself permission to scratch MY initials on the coin, too!

 

“I am putting all of these items in a box with a blue top and marking it ‘PERSONALS.‘ I’ll leave it on the counter next to the computer so it will be easy to find. Hopefully someone will be able to return them someday. Oh, I also put my Ares III pin in there as well, maybe someone can get it to my folks?”

 

“David,” Beth said, “I didn’t see that box sitting next to the computer, we’ll need to look for it!”

 

The recording continued, “There’s also a box with a green top, it’s labeled and inside you will find remnants of the plants from my potato farm.”

“What?” said David as he paused the playback, “Did you hear that..?” Beth looked at David and shrugged her shoulders. 

 

The playback continued, “The contents have been kept outside since the Hab breach where they have remained ‘Martian Freeze Dried’ because I wanted them to be preserved and not affected by the heat and humidity inside the Hab. 

David paused the play again, “Did he just say Hab breach?” They looked at one another again, David shook his head and restarted the playback. 

“I’m also throwing in my remaining potatoes into the box. They may be valuable in trying to figure out the viability of raising crops on Mars. I’ll bring this box inside just as I close down the Hab, since it soon will be just as cold inside as out. It’ll be sitting next to the 15 months worth of cataloged soil samples stored in Commander Lewis’s bunk area.” 

David stopped the playback, and turned to Beth, “Mark’s planning out details to make what we are doing easier. Labeling boxes, using the RTG, and boxing up the personals - all with the plan that the next day would be... the end of his mission.” 

David turned to look out the window at the Hab, then looked back at Beth, “We’ll never be able to finish what we need to do if we watch anymore right now,” he said, “we need to keep track of our time.” She agreed and as they left the flyer Beth reminded David they needed to make sure their HelmetCams were recording. 

 

****** Mission Elapsed time 5 Hr / 25 Min 

 

By the time they returned to the Flyer they had collected the box of personal items, spent some time exploring the Hab, ‘deconstructed’ the temporary tripod and lighting setup, loaded the Utility Cart with all the equipment and stowed it back aboard the Flyer in about 2 and 1/2 hours hours.

 

** Mission Elapsed Time 8 Hrs / 05 Min **

 

There wasn’t time to watch any more of the logs or even eat a meal pack, though neither was hungry, so they headed back to Camp Delta. 

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Later that night (early the next morning) in Switzerland, watching Beth and David’s report, Alex heard Beth say, “It was far worse than we ever imagined.” 

Alex wondered if they had come across Mark’s remains. Maybe that was it? 

 

Beth continued “We copied the Video Logs from the Hab’s computer, and here is the end of our Sol 6 entry,” the screen went blank for a moment before the log began to play. 

Helena Vogel, Marissa Martinez and and C.Y. Bassett (Ares II) positioned themselves so they could all see clearly.

As it played, Alex could see and hear Beth repeating the evacuation protocols for the Log as the Commander recited them aloud. He could see Martinez purposefully heading toward Air Lock One as he passed behind Beth, next he saw himself and Beck walking across the background, then he saw Watney touch Beth on the shoulder as he quietly told her to log off so they could get going. It flashed in his mind it was the last time he would ever see Mark.

 

Then he saw Beth reach up and close the log. 

But, the Log opened once again... “I’m pretty much fucked!”

Marissa audibly gasped and Bassett, said, “What the hell?”

 

When Mark’s Sol 6 log entry ended Alex paused the communication from Mars, he sat for a minute thinking, analyzing how the suit kept Mark alive. Then he became angry. How was it that Mark had been alive on Mars and no one knew? How did NASA not know!?

Helena Vogel and Marissa Martinez were confused and Bassett said “HOW could this happen!?” Then they all looked at one another for minute then looked at Alex.

 

After a minute or two they had all recovered from the surprise of Mark’s survival and Alex restarted the message. 

Beth said she was stopping the Sol 6 log then revealed that in a later entry Mark said he had packed some personal items for easy retrieval. “Here are our HeltmetCam recordings of our return to the Hab,” Bath said, “including the retrieval of personal items the items Mark had packed.”

The recording began with Beth stopping on her way to the Hab. She panned her head slowly from left to right providing a complete view of the Hab from about 30 meters out. As David walked past her to the Hab entrance it gave everyone watching a perspective of the size of the Hab. 

 

Inside the Hab, and recorded through Beth’s HelmetCam, everyone could see Beth’s view as she bent to pick up a box that had apparently fallen on the floor, the top of which was clearly marked in large letters, PERSONALS. The view then switched to David’s HelmetCam as Beth opened the box, reached in and brought out the Challenge Coin and held it up for David and his HelmetCam to see. She returned the coin to the box then retrieved a blue pouch which held the metallic Christ figure (Corpus,) from Rick’s crucifix but without the wooden cross. As she handed it to David she explained to the camera that in later logs Mark made reference to using the wooden cross to keep himself alive for several months. “We have no idea what that meant,” Beth said, “we’ll have to watch more of the logs to understand.” The Corpus was returned to the box and the lid put back into place.

The recording switched back to Beth’s HelmetCam and they saw her open the door on the bottom of the computer cabinet and look inside. 

Bassett quickly asked,” Alex, does that look like the RTG?” 

“Ja,” replied Alex.

 

Beth explained the reason the logs were so easily downloaded was because Mark feared that the Martian cold would damage the computer so he had used the RTG to keep the computer at a reasonable temperature. 

Bassett exclaimed, “Damn Watney was clever!”

 

The report from Mars then switched to David’s HelmetCam as he explored the opening where the entrance to Air Lock One should have been and where it appeared the port had been sealed over with Hab canvas. “Watney had mentioned a Hab breach in the logs,” David explained, “maybe this was the result?” 

David turned toward Beth to call her attention to Air Lock One but saw her sitting on a supply box, where she held something in her arms as she rocked back and forth. Approaching from behind he put his hand on her shoulder, she turned to him, opened her coms and could be heard sniffling. She raised what she held up to David’s HelmetCam and explained, “This was Mark’s Hermes EVA suit,” and she pointed to W A T N E Y printed on the helmet locking ring. 

David explained for the camera that this appeared to be the suit Mark wore during the evacuation when he was struck by debris. He pointed out that the Bio-Monitor component is obviously damaged and they could clearly see the red ‘breach kit’ funnel in place where Mark had been impaled. 

David saw another surface suit in an open storage bin, pulled it out for the HelmetCam to see. Printed on the helmet ring is B E C K and when he held it up the suit obviously had one arm missing and the arm opening was sealed over. “It seems,” David says, “the logs will have quite a story to tell.”

The HelmetCam recordings continued to play showing Beth and David working their way around the inside of the Hab indicating discoveries that will hopefully be explained in the logs. 

Finally, the Cam recorded a box labeled ‘Potato Farm’ and several other boxes labeled ‘Soil and Rock Samples.’ There was a final box marked ‘Samples Analysis.’

Alex and the others sat, watching in silence, trying to take it all in.

Alex stopped the recording. “Did that box say Potato Farm?” he asked as he looked at Bassett. “I think so,” was the reply. 

Alex hit play once again, and the HelmetCam recordings stopped and Beth came on the screen. I know there is a lot to take in here. There’s additional footage from the Hab we’ll send along later and there are hours and hours of Hab logs that we won’t have time to even begin going through until the return trip home. 

“I’ll ask Chief Austin if she has a way to send these logs directly to you. It is important to remember, these are copies, the original logs are still in place on the Hab computer, they weren’t removed, just copied.”

 

She continued, “The Boudica crew has been great and are all very supportive of our efforts here, but they all keep in contact with people at home and the news of our discovery will soon be shared on Earth.”

A woman appeared over Beth’s shoulder, “Hello Alex, I‘m Millie Austin, the Chief of Boudica’s Delta Camp and am as stunned by what David and Beth have discovered as you must be. I can ask my crew to hold off sharing this information for 2 or 3 weeks but they are human and will want to share the news back home.”

“Beth turned to her and said , “Thanks Chief!”

 

Turning back to the screen Beth continues, “Alex, that puts a big burden on you. David and I know you’ll figure out the best way for this information to be shared. 

“One more thing, David and I didn’t have time to watch the final log entry all the way through, but from what Mark had said, he planned on ending the mission on Sol 500.

Beth paused, then continued, “This has been a very trying day and I may cry myself to sleep tonight, but David and I will be in contact again tomorrow.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> "Life is what happens when you're busy making other plans" - John Lennon (and others) 
> 
> Sorry for the delay in posting. Many things I knew nothing of a few weeks ago have become suddenly important. Things like PSA levels and Gleason scores.
> 
> I hope the next update will be quicker, but it's out of my hands at this point.


	4. The Aftermath of a Long and Difficult Day

\-- Five Days Later --

 

After arriving on a Boudica Corporate jet, Annie Montrose cleared customs at the Madrid-Barajas airport and was met at the gate by C Y Bassett who drove her to Villanueva de la Cañada (Spain,) the campus of the ESAC (European Space Astronomy Center). Alex Vogel met them in front of a sleek 3 story building and took them down an escalator into a small suite of offices on the lower level. Taking a seat in front of an array of computers and monitors Alex asked Annie to sit next to him while Bassett sat on the other side. 

“ Guten abend Annie.”

“Alex, was ist los? (What’s going on?) You make a mysterious middle of the night phone call telling me a Boudica Corp private jet is waiting for me at LAX and that you’ll explain everything later. Because I was too fucking tired to argue I get on the flight a little after 2:00 a.m. and almost 12 hours later Chuck Y is driving me out of the Madrid airport to ...I really don’t know WHERE we are. And I sure as hell don’t know what time it is here. We’re in Spain, right?”

“This is the ESAC complex in Spain and it’s 23:50.”

“Alex, what the hell time is it in American numbers!

“11:50 p.m.”

“Was that so hard? You aren’t back with the ESA, are you?” 

“No, but I still have a few contacts here and they’ve let me use this office and equipment for a few days.” 

 

"And Chuck Y, how are you? I know you took interest in David Martinez's career and you have been very important in his mom's life, too. How is Marissa?

"Worried about David's mission, but very proud of him," Chuck responded, "and I'm fine, too, but we have all been set back on our heels this week and are trying to get through some things." 

 

Pouring some coffee from a pot in the corner, Annie said, “Since I was flown all this way on a Paris bound Boudica jet, which made a stop in Madrid JUST for me, I’m assuming this is something important about Beth and David and their Boudica mission. Are they alright? Is there a problem?”

Alex explained that 3:00 a.m. Monday, he’d received a confidential report from Beth and David on Mars. “Chuck Y and I have been reviewing and working around the clock all week on that report and the information that came along with it. Now we need your to help us decide how to go forward.” 

Looking back and forth between Chuck Y and Alex, Annie said, “Please don’t tell me they found Mark’s....” 

“No,” Alex replied, “you just need to watch the report we received from Mars.”

 

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Annie Montrose is tough as nails and unflappable under pressure, even in the most stressful situations she’s always able to handle anything that comes her way. That was just one of the qualities that made her a sought after Media representative for her entire career. As she watched the report from Mars they expected to hear an invective filled reaction of incredulity to what she was seeing, however Alex and Chuck Y were both surprised at how quiet she was. 

When Beth and David’s report was completed, Annie stood, paced back and forth a few steps and then walked quickly down the hall to the nearest restroom. She was gone for more than 20 minutes and was pale with red rimmed eyes when she did return. 

Chuck Y asked, “Annie, are you alright?” 

Shaking her head back and forth, ever so slightly, she took a deep breath and spoke slowly and deliberately, “When Watney died on Mars... “ pausing, she shook her head again, almost imperceptibly, “when we THOUGHT he had died, there was serious concern that the death of an astronaut could harm future funding for the Ares program. My responsibility with the media was to talk up the ‘freak accident’ aspect of it all and the survival, under extreme circumstances, of the remaining, well trained Ares III crew. That included the split second decisions Commander Lewis made and the actions taken by Major Martinez to prevent the MAV from tipping, all which led to a successful launch to the Hermes. The object was to move the story along, as quickly as possible.”

“To that end, I suggested, and everyone agreed, that SatCon should immediately stop taking images of the Ares III site because we would have been required to release everything to the public, including any images of Watney’s remains. Director Sanders thought that was prudent and that we could revisit that decision in a couple of weeks when thing had settled down.

“I continued to argue daily, that things would never settle down if Watney’s remains were seen by everyone around the world. I also said that if that happened, Congress could not be trusted to take a reasoned and realistic stance with regards to NASA funding when, in general, politicians reacted like sunflowers, ‘bending toward the light’ of public opinion - no matter how fickle or uninformed it may be. NASA funding could be at serious risk.

 

“Wait a minute, Annie, we both knew Director Sanders,” said Chuck Y. as he nodded toward Alex, “and while yours was an opinion he sought and took into consideration, he would have listened to many Directors and Department heads before making such decisions. As much as he respected your opinion in such matters, he would not have taken an action simply because YOU suggested it!”

“I know that.... but you don’t understand,” Annie looked down at her hands folded in her lap, “I was RELIEVED when Sanders decided not to allow images of the site! I was glad! It made my job easier and that was my selfish concern, I only cared that I didn’t have to deal with it!,” she paused before continuing quietly, “so while Mark was struggling to survive on Mars, I was happy that my job in Houston was easier!” 

Alex tried to tell Annie she was being unfair to herself, but there was no dissuading her, she was going to carry this burden forever. 

 

“Look Annie, “he said, ”we have a problem now and the reason we asked you here was to have you to see this for yourself, and then help us to figure out where to go from here. Chuck Y and I have reviewed hour after hour of the logs Mark made and we need to figure out how to handle them. We only have a week or ten days before this story is going to leak but we think it needs to be handled the right way, in a measured and professional manner. We hoped you might have an idea how to do that.”

 

Annie walked over to the coffee pot in the corner, looked inside and asked, “Is there any FRESH coffee around here?” 

Alex came back with a cup from down the hall while Annie sat thinking for a few minutes. Later, Chuck Y said he could almost see wheels and cogs turning in her head, then she reached for her device and made a call. 

 

“Hello, yes this is Annie Montrose and I need to speak to Noor urgently.” 

After listening for a moment, “I don’t care if she is in a meeting and not to be disturbed, this is important!” 

Again she listened, then stood up and making a pointing gesture in the air said, “Listen to me, you go into that meeting and whisper into Noor’s ear that Annie Montrose is on the line and then say Scheherazade, do you have that? Repeat it to me... that’s right, Scheherazade. No, leave the line open, I’ll wait.”

Annie sat down again, she nodded to the two men and said “Noor, thanks for taking the call. I’m here with two former NASA Martian astronauts, Alex Vogel from the Ares III mission and Chuck Y Bassett who was on the Ares II mission.”

Noor broke in,“Annie, I’m in an important meeting with my producer and we have deadline to meet.”

“Not any longer,” Annie replied, “I wouldn’t have used ‘Scheherazade’ if it weren’t important. Now cancel whatever you were working on, because you are getting the literal ‘story of the fucking century’ dropped in your lap!”

 

~~~~~~~~~~

New York City, 4 days Later

 

On the glass wall behind the reception desk were two large posters, one of a rugged looking man with blue eyes, white hair, and a scarred left cheek sitting across a desk from another man who, just three hours after the photo was taken, mysteriously resigned the U.S. Presidency. 

The second poster was of a helmeted woman wearing jeans, combat boots, and flak vest with white lettering spelling out ‘Journaliste,’ crouching behind the remnants of a wall in a war torn city somewhere in the world.

“May I help you?” asked the young man behind the reception desk. “Lauren Holcomb” replied the smartly dressed woman who had just walked into the entry lounge of B & N Media. She proffered a business card to the man behind the desk and explained, “I’m Media Director for NASA,” then tilting her head at the poster of the woman, she continued, “I’m here at Noor’s request, presumably about a story, but I don’t really know for certain.” 

Motioning to an intern on his right the man behind the desk said, “Tom, please take Director Holcomb to Media Room D.” She followed through a door on the other side of the foyer and was led down a hall into a multimedia conference room furnished with 8 plush leather executive chairs on the same side of a gently curving mahogany table facing a wall of media screens. 

Entering the room she saw the back of the head a woman already seated in the chair at the far right end of the table. The intern indicated Lauren was to take a chair at the far left but as she prepared to sit she recognized the seated woman was Annie Montrose. 

Turning to the intern, “What’s going on, why is she here?” Lauren asked.

“Please sit down Lauren.” Annie said quietly, then continued matter of factly, “if I had my way you wouldn’t be here at all, but Alex Vogel and Noor both insisted.”

“Alex Vogel? From Ares III?” Speaking to the intern she said, “I have to leave!” As she headed toward the door Lauren recited aloud the standing instructions: “No one at NASA has permission to communicate with anyone about the Ares III mission without first consulting the NASA Legal Department.”

 

“That’s too bad Lauren,” Annie called over her shoulder, “because NASA is facing a shit storm of bad publicity and we’re trying to give you a way to get ahead of it.”

That caused Lauren to pause, “What are you talking about?”

Insisting Lauren sit down, Annie said, “Look, you don’t have to ‘communicate’ with us about Ares III. You don’t have to do anything but watch that screen on the wall. If you’re worried about Legal, then tell them we ambushed you and you did nothing but listen. That can’t be forbidden, can it?”

“Where is Noor?” Holcomb asked the intern, “I really don’t understand why I had to travel to New York just to talk to Annie Montrose, surely this meeting could have been handled remotely.”

“Noor should be here in a minute,” Annie replied sharply, “and Lauren, there are much larger issues at hand than your inconvenience!” 

~~~~~~~~~~

With Lauren was seated the lights dimmed slightly, then the largest screen across from the table began playing the Ares III Sol 6 logs, just prior to the evacuation. 

Immediately Lauren interrupted, causing the intern to pause the playback, and she began speaking rapidly, “Beth Johanssen-Conroy and David Martinez did NOT have permission to remove anything from the Ares III site except for a crucifix and a personal computer hard drive. It is outrageous and a breach of trust that these logs were removed without permission...”

“Enough!” said Annie with a raised voice, cutting Lauren off. “Nothing was removed. The originals are still in place, this is only a copy. Now please calm down and watch! Tom, may I have the remote please? Thank you.” 

Annie started the recording and allowed it to play through Watney’s surprise appearance, then she paused the playback. 

Lauren was thoroughly shocked, but no more than the intern who had learned about Mark Watney’s tragic death in school. Annie gave them time to consider what they had just seen then played the segment of the log where Mark described how he survived the accident.

At that point, the intern picked up a box from the floor and put it on the table. It held 9 large binders of printed pages and a data storage device. 

Annie spoke, “Those are all of Watney’s log entries from, Sol 6 until....until the end of the mission.” Anne paused for a moment to let that sink in. “And let me remind you, these logs were NOT removed from the site, this is a COPY of the logs and a transcript of that copy, the originals are still in place, inside the Ares III Habitat computer.” 

The playback continued and during Beth’s discovery of Watney’s damaged Hermes Suit, Noor quietly walked in and took a seat in the middle chair halfway between the two women. Lauren hardly noticed as she stared at the screen and, like the others in the room, was lost in what she was seeing. 

As the playback ended another woman entered the room. “Hello Ms Holcomb. I am Eva Szabo, Noor’s producer.” Noor then introduced herself to Lauren.

“What do you plan to do with these video logs?” Lauren asked.

Noor spoke, “While we’re nearly ready to broadcast and stream an in depth report on Mark Watney’s survival on Mars, we will certainly NOT be playing the logs in their entirety.” Looking over at her producer she continued, “I know that Eva has different feelings about this but I will NOT capitalize on this man’s struggle to survive.” 

“Having said that,” she now looked back to Lauren, “there are some excerpts that people should see, including this first entry recounting his Sol 6 experience.” 

Annie is quick to add, “Mark Watney deserves to be seen as the true hero he was!” 

Noor continued, “Several excerpts will certainly be used in our reporting but a large amount of the logs reflect Mark’s personal struggles and include a great deal of raw emotion - feelings he wanted to share with crew and loved ones, those will NOT be used There are also times when Mark had to face the reality that NASA was doing nothing to save him. Those will mostly be omitted as well.”

“And how could he know what was happening here on Earth?” Lauren asked.

“It’s evident in the logs,” Noor replied. 

Then with that determined look and matching tone of voice her followers have seen for the last 17 years, Noor continued, “NASA will have some serious questions to answer, number one of which is how a man could live in a NASA facility on Mars for a 16 months without NASA’s knowledge? Or.... if they did know he was alive, why they chose not to attempt a rescue.

Lauren interrupted,“Wait, you can’t possibly think that NASA just left him to die... on purpose?”

Noor continued, “No I don’t, Annie has convinced me that was not the case, but NASA will certainly have to be prepared to address that question, along with many others. We, as well as the public, are going to insist on answers.”

“So, those binders on the table are transcripts of the logs?” Lauren asked?

Noor replied, “Yes. And that data device holds a copy of the video logs.”

“Are they for NASA, may I take them with me?” Lauren asked.

“I originally had them made to give to you but Annie convinced me not to do so.”

Lauren, sarcastically said, “Of course she did.” looking across at Annie. Then to Noor, “Well, no matter, you can expect our lawyers to be taking action to get the logs returned to NASA where they belong and to get a T R O to prevent their broadcast!”

 

“Good luck with that Lauren” Annie replied, “especially since they don’t belong to NASA, they belong to Beth Johanssen-Conroy and David Martinez and their surrogate, Alex Vogel! Ya know, Instead of making threats you really need to take a minute to think this through.” 

Standing, and gathering her things, Lauren said,“No, I really don’t! I’m catching a train back to Washington and I’ll report this all to the Legal Department, I’m sure you’ll be hearing from them later today.”

Noor spoke up, “Legal departments are all about the ‘fine print,’ and NASA needs to take a Big Picture view of this matter. Why don’t you sit back down and call Director Cole?” 

“I can’t just call the Director of NASA out of the blue, it doesn’t work that way...”

Annie interrupted, “I’ll call.”

Noor cut Annie off and said, “No, I’ll place the call.”

~~~~~~~~~~

 

Over the speaker, “Hello Noor, how long has it been?”

“Hello Meredith, 3 or 4 years maybe?”

“Is that Annie Montrose I see?”

“Yup! Hello Director Cole.”

“And Lauren?”

“Director, I’m sorry you had to get involved, I wanted to contact the Legal Department, but Noor and Ms Montrose insisted on contacting you.”

“That’s okay Lauren, Noor, we’re pretty busy here, what’s this about?”

Noor laid out the situation in full, from the beginning, Beth copying the logs, all the way through to today’s reveal to Lauren Holcomb. 

“Noor, you are telling me Mark Watney survived the evacuation accident?”

“Yes, and for an additional 493 days! And we have a copy of the Watney’s logs to prove it.”

Noor said that Lauren’s instinct was to get the Legal Department involved to take possession of the logs, but if that happened, and NASA somehow actually succeeded, then NASA would have to release those logs to the public within 24 hours.

“I think it’s time we stopped worrying about turf and seriously consider Mark Watney, in this matter,” after pausing a moment, Noor continued, “we need to consider the personal and private messages he left on the logs to the crew, to his family and loved ones, his reactions when he discovered NASA had no plans to attempt a rescue, and the final days when he made plans to end his mission on his own terms.”

Meredith interrupted, “Wait, how did he know that NASA wasn’t planning a rescue? How could he have KNOWN such a thing?”

“As I told Lauren, it’s explained in the logs.”

“Meredith, I want to be clear, we are more than willing to share everything on the logs with NASA, your people can view the logs, in their entirety, anytime they choose, in fact Alex Vogel had insisted on this. “We had already made a copy of the logs and a full set of log transcripts to give to NASA when Annie Montrose pointed out the problem of giving the logs to you.”

“When do you expect to broadcast/stream your report?” Director Cole asked.

“Three days.” 

“That’s not a lot of time,”

“You know we could have run the story today, right?” 

“Yes, well thank you for that Noor, thank you Annie, and please thank Mr Vogel, too. 

“If it’s alright I’ll have some people up there this evening to begin reviewing the video logs and the printed copies. In fact, I will want to be there as well.”

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for the delay in posting.
> 
> I thought Scheherazade would be an appropriate code word for Noor's sources/contacts to use if there was urgent information to share with her. Scheherazade was the story teller in Richard F. Burton's: THE BOOK OF THE THOUSAND NIGHTS AND A NIGHT
> 
> I speak no German and used Google translate for German phrases
> 
> I know an exceptional young woman named Noor who, if she had chosen that career path, would have been a terrific news reporter.


End file.
